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Girl killed in wreck on I-5 in Olympia after her disabled vehicle is hit by allegedly impaired drive

A girl was killed Saturday afternoon on Interstate 5 in Olympia after the disabled vehicle she was in was hit by another vehicle on the freeway’s shoulder.

The wreck was in the northbound lanes of I-5 at Pacific Avenue.

The victim is high school aged, according to Washington State Patrol spokeswoman Johnna Batiste. The girl was one of four people in a vehicle that had been traveling with another vehicle from Oregon.

When one of the vehicles got a flat tire, both pulled over on to the shoulder of the freeway.

The group was waiting for a tow truck when another vehicle left the roadway at approximately 1:45 p.m. and slammed in to the back of the victim’s vehicle, Batiste said.

The driver of the causing vehicle, an adult man, was placed under arrest for vehicular homicide and transported to a local hospital with serious injuries. Impaired driving is suspected, Batiste said.

The victim’s vehicle was carrying another high school aged juvenile and two adults. The girl was in the left side passenger seat. Injuries to the other three in the victim’s vehicle were not immediately available.

A juvenile in the causing car sustained minor injuries.

The State Patrol says the right three lanes were blocked while troopers investigated.

As of 4 p.m., traffic was backed up on northbound I-5 to south of Custer Way. Traffic was also backed up on U.S. 101 eastbound to Black Lake Blvd.

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